So What’s Your Excuse?

in Education by Margo Smith — March 23, 2011 at 7:20 am | 0 comments

Do you need a truly creative pretext for your procrastination? Hey, we’ve got your back. Scan the following list and see if you can use any of these as rationalizations next time your homework is not finished on time or you have not studied properly for a test.  If you’ve used up all the old stand-bys like the cat ate my homework or it blew away in the wind, or the classic “I did it but I left it at home” turn to the ultimate excuse: phobias!

• Just to get us started with the conversation, do you have the most common one – arachnophobia?
• Or instead of being afraid of 8-legged creepy crawlies, are you panicked by tight places like the 10 percent of the U.S. residents who suffer from claustrophobia?
• Do you suffer from the fear of test taking: testophobia? Sure, not many of us adore tests, but this one just adds insult to injury. Taking a test + panic attack = HELP!
• Sophophobia is the fear of learning.
• Do you hate to get shots? You may suffer from Vaccinophobia. So if you get the flu and your professor does not want to excuse your absence from a mandatory attendance lecture, try this one out.
• Phronemophobia is the fear of thinking. I’d better not comment on this one, but allow me a question: do you feel – at times- this fear has become an epidemic?
• Coimetrophobia is the fear of cemeteries. Just threw that in there to see if you were still reading.
• Decidophobia is the fear of making decisions.
• Scolionophobia is the fear of school. Most school-aged children wish they knew about this one come Monday morning.
• Cyberphobia is the fear of computers. (This is different from being a luddite, which is one who is averse to technological progress.)
• This one is my favorite. It is the fear of long words: Hippopotomonstrousesquipedaliophobia. Okay, so that one may be a fake, but it is a real fear and it is called Sesquipedalophobia.
• Need a day off from school? Say you have Batophobia, the fear of being near tall buildings. Of course, if you choose not to mess with campus by opting for online schooling – that one won’t work for you – you’ll have to be more creative.
• Bibliophobia is, logically, the fear of books.
• Fearful of all those red marks editing your papers?  You may be afflicted with Enissophobia, the fear of criticism.

Take this test to see if you have phobias, or if you are worried you are a phobophobe (someone who is afraid of being afraid) try this quiz out to see if you qualify for the odd phobia award. In all seriousness, we know that fear and anxiety can be debilitating, so if you struggle with panic attacks that go beyond the typical dread the rest of us fear, there is help. Try the resources listed here to find help overcoming your phobia. Go ahead – tell us about your phobias. Who knows, maybe someone else out there has the same fear.

Tags: books computers editing learning online schooling papers phobia school